Athens Marathon: Costas Gelaouzos emerges victorious

Greek runner Costas Gelaouzos won the 38th Athens Marathon, clocking 2:16.49s on Sunday.

Gelaouzos' compatriots Panagiotis Bourikas and Haralambos Pitsolis completed the podium, giving the host country a clean sweep.

Bourikas was more than five minutes behind Gelaouzos, timing 2:22:33s, while Pitsolis timed 2:24:05s.

Incidentally, Gelaouzos finished third in the previous edition of the Athens Marathon, held in 2019. This is the fourth time Gelauzos is participating in the Athens Marathon and it was his first win.

In the women's race, it was the host nation that triumphed again as Greece's Gloria-Tziovana Privilegio won the race in 2:41:30s. She, however, finished 23rd overall. Privilegio was nearly seven minutes ahead of her closest rival, Katerina Asimakopoulou.

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Katerina Asimakopoulou won the silver medal with a time of 2.48.12s, while Vasiliki Konstantinopoulou came third and won the bronze medal clocking 2.51.32s.

The Athens Marathon resumed this year after a break in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 9,558 runners registered to line up at the start in the village of Marathon, less than half the record 20,041 who ran in the previous race in 2019. There was also a notable absence of elite international athletes.

Gelaouzos records a personal best in Athens marathon

Enroute to his win, Gelaouzos set a personal best for this particular race, where times are slowed by the demanding, hilly course. The course record is 2:10:34s, set by Kenya's Felix Kipchirchir Kandie in 2014.

The Kenyan runners have won the Athens Marathon 16 times since 2001.

The start of the race is near the battlefield where Athenians and their allies beat a far larger Persian army in 490 BC. Legend has it that a messenger who ran the distance to Athens to announce the victory died upon arrival.